diff --git a/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/utils/PreciseNonNegativeDouble.java b/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/utils/PreciseNonNegativeDouble.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8255b7307
--- /dev/null
+++ b/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/utils/PreciseNonNegativeDouble.java
@@ -0,0 +1,124 @@
+package org.broadinstitute.sting.utils;
+
+/**
+ * Created by IntelliJ IDEA.
+ * User: fromer
+ * Date: Aug 18, 2010
+ * Time: 4:55:23 PM
+ * To change this template use File | Settings | File Templates.
+ */
+
+/* PreciseNonNegativeDouble permits arithmetic operations on NON-NEGATIVE double values
+   with precision (prevents underflow by representing in log space).
+ */
+public class PreciseNonNegativeDouble implements Comparable<PreciseNonNegativeDouble> {
+    private static double EQUALS_THRESH = 1e-6;
+    private static double INFINITY = Double.POSITIVE_INFINITY;
+
+    private double logValue;
+
+    public PreciseNonNegativeDouble(double d) {
+        this(d, false);
+    }
+
+    public PreciseNonNegativeDouble(double d, boolean isLog) {
+        if (isLog) {
+            this.logValue = d;
+        }
+        else {
+            if (d < 0)
+                throw new IllegalArgumentException("non-log PreciseNonNegativeDouble argument must be non-negative");
+            this.logValue = Math.log(d);
+        }
+    }
+
+    public PreciseNonNegativeDouble(org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.PreciseNonNegativeDouble pd) {
+        this.logValue = pd.logValue;
+    }
+
+    public double getValue() {
+        return Math.exp(logValue);
+    }
+
+    public double getLogValue() {
+        return logValue;
+    }
+
+    public org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.PreciseNonNegativeDouble setEqual(org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.PreciseNonNegativeDouble other) {
+        logValue = other.logValue;
+        return this;
+    }
+
+    public org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.PreciseNonNegativeDouble plus(org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.PreciseNonNegativeDouble other) {
+        return new org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.PreciseNonNegativeDouble(this).plusEqual(other);
+    }
+
+    public org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.PreciseNonNegativeDouble times(org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.PreciseNonNegativeDouble other) {
+        return new org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.PreciseNonNegativeDouble(this).timesEqual(other);
+    }
+
+    public org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.PreciseNonNegativeDouble div(org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.PreciseNonNegativeDouble other) {
+        return new org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.PreciseNonNegativeDouble(this).divEqual(other);
+    }
+
+    public int compareTo(org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.PreciseNonNegativeDouble other) {
+        // Since log is monotonic: e^a R e^b <=> a R b, where R is one of: >, <, ==
+        double logValDiff = this.logValue - other.logValue;
+        if (Math.abs(logValDiff) <= EQUALS_THRESH)
+            return 0; // this.equals(other)
+
+        return new Double(Math.signum(logValDiff)).intValue();
+    }
+
+    public boolean equals(org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.PreciseNonNegativeDouble other) {
+        return (this.compareTo(other) == 0);
+    }
+
+    public boolean gt(org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.PreciseNonNegativeDouble other) {
+        return (this.compareTo(other) > 0);
+    }
+
+    public boolean lt(org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.PreciseNonNegativeDouble other) {
+        return (this.compareTo(other) < 0);
+    }
+
+    public org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.PreciseNonNegativeDouble plusEqual(org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.PreciseNonNegativeDouble other) {
+        logValue = addInLogSpace(logValue, other.logValue);
+        return this;
+    }
+
+    // If x = log(a), y = log(b), returns log(a+b)
+    public static double addInLogSpace(double x, double y) {
+        if (x == INFINITY || y == INFINITY) return INFINITY; //log( e^INFINITY + e^y ) = INFINITY
+
+        if (x == -INFINITY) return y;
+        if (y == -INFINITY) return x;
+
+        double maxVal, negDiff;
+        if (x > y) {
+            maxVal = x;
+            negDiff = y - x;
+        }
+        else { // x <= y
+            maxVal = y;
+            negDiff = x - y;
+        }
+
+        // x + log(1+e^(y-x)) = log(a) + log(1+e^(log(b)-log(a))) = log(a) + log(1+b/a) = log(a+b)
+        return maxVal + Math.log(1.0 + Math.exp(negDiff));
+    }
+
+    public org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.PreciseNonNegativeDouble timesEqual(org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.PreciseNonNegativeDouble other) {
+        logValue += other.logValue;
+        return this;
+    }
+
+    public org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.PreciseNonNegativeDouble divEqual(org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.PreciseNonNegativeDouble other) {
+        logValue -= other.logValue;
+        return this;
+    }
+
+    public String toString() {
+        return new StringBuilder().append(getValue()).toString();
+    }
+}